Anime Blog Tracker

All The Long Nights (2024) review [Japan Cuts 2024]

A splendid drama that shows how symptoms can disturb a subject’s life and how the social field attains its cruel complexity due to the riddle of desire.

psycho-cinematography

Jul 20, 2024 • Subscribe

Review: All Ears (2023)

All Ears 不虚此行。 China, 2023, colour, 16:9, 117 mins. Director: Liu Jiayin 刘伽茵. Rating: 4/10. Over-long study of an introverted funeral eulogist and his various clients doesn’t go…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

Dec 12, 2023 • Subscribe

Amalock (2024) review [OAFF 2024]

A narrative that fluidly combines comedy and tragedy to deliver an experience of smiles and tears.

psycho-cinematography

Mar 17, 2024 • Subscribe

Suton (2024) review [OAFF 2024]

Rikako Watanabe’s narrative succeeds to echo the unvocalized ‘pandemic’ truth of many.

psycho-cinematography

Mar 2, 2024 • Subscribe

Belonging (2024) review [Japannual 2024]

Higashi delivers a touching exploration of love after death.

psycho-cinematography

Nov 3, 2024 • Subscribe

Snowdrop (2024) review [OAFF 2024]

A complex character portrait that touchingly illustrates how easy it is to misrecognize the logic of the subject-supposed-to-be-in-need.

psycho-cinematography

Mar 29, 2024 • Subscribe

Review: All These Years (2023)

All These Years 这么多年 China, 2023, colour, 2.35:1, 116 mins. Director: Ji Zhuqing 季竹青. Rating: 7/10. A high school-to-adulthood unrequited love story that’s utterly generic but beautifully executed…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

Jul 27, 2023 • Subscribe

All My Darling Daughters review

All my darling daughters is a collection of five short stories that weave a complex tapestry exploring the important emotional relationships in women’s lives.Leyla Alert, Editorial Manager, V…

Tea Time

May 10, 2021 • Subscribe

Antique Bakery

All-Star Fruit Racing Review

Note: Review is of the Nintendo Switch version I am not a go kart racer/mascot racing game expert but I have played a fair share of them from…

The Yuri Empire

Aug 10, 2020 • Subscribe

Wash Away (2024) review [OAFF 2024]

A pleasant narrative that offers a fresh but familiar exploration of the subject’s fundamental desire for recognition/love and the problematic yet medicative function of consumption.

psycho-cinematography

Mar 23, 2024 • Subscribe

Sumiko 22 (2024) review [OAFF 2024]

A subtle but playful narrative about a subject who slowly tries to crawl out the hole of emptiness and diminished self-worth.

psycho-cinematography

Mar 14, 2024 • Subscribe

Sumiko

Blue Imagine (2024) review [OAFF 2024]

A powerful reminder of the sexual transgressions that structurally plague the Japanese film industry

psycho-cinematography

Apr 1, 2024 • Subscribe

Review: YOLO (2024)

YOLO 热辣滚烫 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 128 mins. Director: Jia Ling 贾玲. Rating: 7/10. Mainland comedienne Jia Ling’s second feature as writer-director-star hits the bell again, if not…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

May 27, 2024 • Subscribe

2024 in Review

A year of retreads and repeats, none of them good: War in Ukraine. War in the Middle East. Famine in Sudan. Famine in Gaza. Covid and…

Collectr's Blog

Jan 1, 2025 • Subscribe

Blue Flames, Chalk-iro no People, Gakkou no Yuurei, The Apothecary Diaries, Dance Till Tomorrow

Review: Yuanyanglou (2024)

Yuanyanglou 鸳鸯楼•惊魂 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 94 mins. Director: Wang Shenghe 王晟赫. Rating: 6/10. Surprisingly effective horror film, anchored by undervalued actress Li Meng, simmers for an hour…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

Mar 5, 2025 • Subscribe

Review: Upstream (2024)

Upstream 逆行人生 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 120 mins. Director: Xu Zheng 徐峥. Rating: 6/10. A black but ultimately warm comedy, set among Shanghai’s community of food deliverers, shows…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

Nov 1, 2024 • Subscribe

Jinsei - Life Consulting

Review: Decoded (2024)

Decoded 解密 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 155 mins. Director: Chen Sicheng 陈思诚. Rating: 8/10. Belated return to form by film-maker Chen Sicheng is a strongly written, subtly played…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

Oct 13, 2024 • Subscribe

Review: Untouchable (2024)

Untouchable 逆鳞 China, 2024, colour/b&w, 2.35:1, 111 mins. Director: Da Qing 大庆 [Wang Daqing 王大庆]. Rating: 8/10. Cat-and-mouse gangster drama, set in 1990s pre-handover Macau, is stylishly written…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

Dec 21, 2024 • Subscribe

Review: All about My Mother (2021)

All about My Mother 关于我妈的一切 China, 2021, colour, 2.35:1, 118 mins. Director: Zhao Tianyu 赵天宇. Rating: 5/10. Vehicle for veteran actress Xu Fan is a predictable cancer tear-jerker…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

Nov 19, 2021 • Subscribe

Give It All Anime Film Review

Within its sports narrative, Give It All is a fantastically realistic depiction of how mental hang-ups stay with a person.

Anime News Network - Views

Nov 4, 2024 • Subscribe

Horimiya Review: They’re All So Pretty

Studio: Cloverworks Director: Masashi Ishihama Streaming on: Funimation Most of my content might lead you to believe I am a brick-headed shonen fanboy who can’t pay attention to…

The Otaku Exhibition

Jan 25, 2021 • Subscribe

Horimiya

Sin And Evil (2024) review [Japannual 2024]

Saito shows that the Other always bears some responsibility for the subjective outcomes of dysfunctional familial dynamics and the criminal excesses that plague its mendacious image of peaceful…

psycho-cinematography

Dec 10, 2024 • Subscribe

Penalty Loop (2024) review [Nippon Connection 2024]

The way Araki resolves the narrative’s thematical questions concerning vengeance and the working-through of trauma will divide spectators

psycho-cinematography

Jun 17, 2024 • Subscribe

Desert of Namibia (2024) review [Japannual 2024]

Yoko Yamanaka delivers a cinematic masterpiece of subjectivity.

psycho-cinematography

Nov 14, 2024 • Subscribe

Movie Review: Abigail (2024)

While browsing Peacock’s catalog for something to watch, Abigail (2024) caught my eye. I wasn’t searching for anything specific, but the film’s horror and comedy labels and the…

Dragonas Talk

Jul 26, 2024 • Subscribe

City Hunter (2024) review

A fun but very forgettable experience.

psycho-cinematography

Jun 30, 2024 • Subscribe

City Hunter

Review: Big World (2024)

Big World 小小的我 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 130 mins. Director: Yang Li’na 杨荔钠. Rating: 5/10. Over-long drama centred on a son with cerebral palsy is a great opportunity…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

Mar 17, 2025 • Subscribe

Review: Remember Me (2024)

Remember Me 灿烂的她 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 115 mins. Director: Xu Wei 徐伟. Rating: 5/10. Light drama between a selfless fisherwoman and her grand-daughter who went missing has…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

Jun 6, 2024 • Subscribe

Review: Panda Plan (2024)

Panda Plan 熊猫计划 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 98 mins. Director: Zhang Luan 张栾. Rating: 3/10. A lazy, throwaway attempt at a comic action movie, with an aged-looking Cheng…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

Jan 27, 2025 • Subscribe

Review: Crisis Negotiators (2024)

Crisis Negotiators 谈判专家 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 119 mins. Director: Qiu Litao 邱礼涛 [Herman Yau]. Rating: 8/10. A cracking, Hong Kong-set re-make of US drama-thriller The Negotiator  that’s…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

Aug 4, 2024 • Subscribe

2024 Year in Review

At this point I just can’t be bothered to rank things and I honestly don’t know if I could, at least with movies, so here are a bunch…

Adventures in (Post) Gradland

Dec 31, 2024 • Subscribe

Review: Reversed Destiny (2024)

Reversed Destiny 沙漏 China, 2024, colour, 1.85:1, 109 mins. Director: Wen Jing 温婧. Rating: 7/10. Good-looking, well-played story of two high-school BFFs would have been even better with…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

Aug 15, 2024 • Subscribe

Review: Cesium Fallout (2024)

Cesium Fallout 焚城 Hong Kong/China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 135 mins. Director: Pan Yaoming 潘耀明 [Anthony Pun]. Rating: 6/10. Technically polished disaster movie doesn’t reach down very far in…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

Feb 9, 2025 • Subscribe

Review: Article 20 (2024)

Article 20 第二十条 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 139 mins. Director: Zhang Yimou 张艺谋. Rating: 6/10. Comedy-drama, set among a city’s public prosecutors, is entertaining enough due to its…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

May 12, 2024 • Subscribe

Review: Life Hotel (2024)

Life Hotel 来福大酒店 China, 2024, colour, 1.85:1, 118 mins. Director: Liu Bowen 刘博文. Rating: 7/10. A strong, characterful cast, led by Huang Xuan and Liu Yan, make this…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

Sep 20, 2024 • Subscribe

Review: Black Dog (2024)

Black Dog 狗阵 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 115 mins. Director: Guan Hu 管虎. Rating: 8/10. Elemental story of re-birth and renewal in a run-down town in northwest China…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

Aug 31, 2024 • Subscribe

Review: Super Villain (2024)

Super Villain 大“反”派 China, 2024, colour, 2.35/1.85/1.33:1, 97 mins. Director: Bao Bei’er 包贝尔. Associate director: Zhang Zuofeng 张作峰. Rating: 4/10. Painfully unfunny comedy about an ambitious actor who…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

Jun 14, 2024 • Subscribe

Review: The Victims (2024)

The Victims 黄雀在后！ China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 98 mins. Directors: Xu Wei 徐伟, He Wenchao 何文超. Rating: 7/10. Richly cast, this well-mounted whodunit is 100% plot and procedure…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

Jun 3, 2024 • Subscribe

Review: Bureau 749 (2024)

Bureau 749 749局 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 123 mins. Director: Lu Chuan 陆川. Rating: 4/10. Sci-fi monster movie is a wannabe blockbuster holed by a shapeless script, colourless…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

Dec 11, 2024 • Subscribe

Review: Burning Stars (2024)

Burning Stars 孤星计划 China, 2024, colour/b&w, 2.35:1, 104 mins. Director: Xu Zhanxiong 徐展雄. Rating: 7/10. Smoothly assembled, suitably twisty package centred on CPC/KMT shenanigans in 1920s Shanghai. STORY…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

24 days ago • Subscribe

Review: Enjoy Yourself (2024)

Enjoy Yourself 祝你幸福 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 111 mins. Director: Kang Bo 康博. Rating: 6/10. Relationship-cum-legal drama sports some good performances but is hampered by a messily constructed…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

Nov 17, 2024 • Subscribe

Review: Pegasus 2 (2024)

Pegasus 2 飞驰人生2 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 120 mins. Director: Han Han 韩寒. Rating: 6/10. More of the same and with knobs on, plus another effortless lead by…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

May 20, 2024 • Subscribe

Jinsei - Life Consulting

Review: The Wig (2024)

The Wig 戴假发的人 China/Hong Kong, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 119 mins. Director: Dong Yue 董越. Rating: 6/10. Huang Xiaoming gives a strong, atypical performance as a lawyer-with-a-secret, but his…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

Jan 4, 2025 • Subscribe

Review: Keep Rolling (2024)

Keep Rolling 大场面 China, 2024, colour, 2.35:1, 99 mins. Director: Li Ji 李季. Rating: 7/10. Modestly produced black comedy on the film industry and human selfishness doesn’t run…

Sino-Cinema 《神州电影》

12 days ago • Subscribe

2024 Kanji of The Year Is, Once Again, All About Money

Kin (金) repeats its appearance as the 2024 Kanji of the Year thanks to the Olympics and political scandals.

Unseen Japan

Dec 12, 2024 • Subscribe

All Shall Be Well (從今以後, Ray Yeung, 2024)

An older woman finds herself in a precarious position when her partner dies suddenly without a will in Ray Yeung’s poignant drama.

Windows on Worlds

Aug 18, 2024 • Subscribe

Memories of this Scent (2024) review [OAFF 2024]

An endearing and fragrance rich tale of subjective change.

psycho-cinematography

Mar 8, 2024 • Subscribe

AVAHS – An All Dogs Christmas Carol Review

Plot: Charlie, Sasha and Itchy try to make a good Christmas for all the dogs and puppies in town. However, their holiday fun is ruined when Carface crashes…

The Anime Madhouse

Dec 5, 2020 • Subscribe